


SIC, Air Commander, and Leader of the Command Trine

by Moonrose91



Series: Competent Starscream [1]
Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe, Competent Starscream, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 17:09:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9394997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonrose91/pseuds/Moonrose91
Summary: ....Primus take mercy on him.





	

* * *

Starscream is unsure of what has _possessed_ Megatron to add _Second-in-Command_ on top of being the Decepticon Air Commander. “You are processing very loudly,” Soundwave commented.

“I am not that close for you to care,” Starscream responded as he began to work on the first batch of paperwork as SIC.

Actually…some of this looked like something Megatron should be dealing with.

He felt his wings twitch slightly as he read it over, though relaxed when he saw Megatron’s signature. He tilted his head slightly and signed off as well before he sent it off to the TIC, which had Soundwave staring at him.

Starscream smirked slightly and slowly stood up to walk back to his lab.

He stopped when he heard a fight starting up and turned to head toward where it looked like some of the Aerial Forces had started in on the Front-Liners, the heavy hitters of the Decepticon Army, meant to break through enemy lines.

“Primus preserve me,” Starscream muttered as he walked in, not hesitating to wade in.

“Aerial Corps!” Starscream shrieked out, which is somewhat how he got his nickname, and they leapt up above the Front-Liners.

He glared down the Front-Liners until they quailed under his gaze, then back up at the Aerial Corps.

“The next person who starts a _brawl_ in a public area gets assigned to the Border Patrols! _Got it_?” he snarled and he felt his wings twitch.

“Yes, sir!” the Aerial Corps responded.

“Does that mean us too?” Skywarp asked.

“You can go on your own without me!” Starscream shot back and Skywarp rushed over to hide behind Thundercracker, who promptly tried to hide behind Skywarp.

They weren’t actually scared, however, just playing it up to add to Starscream’s power. If his _own_ Trine was scared of him, how would the others be?

Mind, exactly _none_ of the Aerial Corps wanted to deal with being Air Commander, so there was really no threat to _that_ position in Starscream’s life.

Starscream shifted and then turned his glare back on the Front-Liners. “And if you tangle with the Aerial Corps _again_ , I’ll have you on Battlefield Sweep duty!” he finished.

“We don’t listen to you! We listen to Shockwave!” one of the heavier built idiots shouted.

“I am Starscream, Second in Command of the Decepticons! I outrank him,” Starscream said simply and glared up at the two other members of his Trine.

“Get down here. We have to prepare for our patrol,” Starscream said as he turned to walk away.

He heard a shift and jumped up, over the heavily built idiot, using his thrusters to achieve the needed height. He shifted ever so slightly and disengaged his thrusters as he dropped his entire weight down on the junction between the ‘Con’s neck and back. There was an audible crunch and a choked off sound of agony.

Starscream continued with the motion and, once they had landed, stepped off the ‘Con. “Someone get the medic before he becomes a useless pile of slag. Skywarp, Thundercracker, let’s _go_ ,” he said and began to walk away.

No one tried to attack him from behind as he left.

* * *

Starscream glared at the door as it whooshed behind Skywarp so he could avoid doing any of the paperwork required of the Command Trine.

“You’re my Second in Command,” he shrieked at the closed door and let out a low growl.

He didn’t hesitate to shove at Laserbeak when the strange little spy of Soundwave’s hopped close. It let out sharp shrieks at him, which grated on his audio receptors. “I didn’t even touch you. Now, shoo, pest. I have work to do and my SIC decided to run off like a coward,” Starscream grumbled and Laserbeak let out another shriek before it ran off.

Irritating little ‘Con.

Starscream grumbled, even as he dropped some small cubes of Energon onto a shelf that just _happened_ to be at the perfect height for said pests.

* * *

Skywarp yelped as Starscream grabbed him and hauled him backward. “I. Need. Lab. Time,” Starscream snarled as he dragged Skywarp by his wing strut toward the Air Commander’s office.

“Noooooooo!” Skywarp shouted as he tried to escape, though Starscream wasn’t having it.

His depressed shout of ‘no’ turned into another yelp, though this one more of pain than surprise. “Stop struggling. And do the paperwork. If I return and it is the same number, I will pair you with the Constructicons the next time they need aerial support,” Starscream threatened.

 _“Screamer!”_ Skywarp whined.

 _“Warp,"_  Starscream answered flatly.

Skywarp whined, but stopped trying to fight against Starscream dragging him. Starscream dragged him into the office and made him sit down. “Work. I need lab time,” Starscream growled and then left Skywarp behind him whining.

Starscream stretched slightly and began to walk down the hall to his lab.

* * *

Starscream spun around in the air, firing on the Autobots, and quickly barrel rolling out of the way as one of those _slagging Twins_ tried to drag him down. He did a quick survey of the battlefield and let out a shriek as he began to blaze toward where Megatron was.

It wasn’t a fight against Optimus Prime, he wouldn’t have to deal with a horrific fall-out, and altered his flight so he could climb up before he began to nosedive. He shifted and then transformed, dropping down on the Autobot with another crunch. He turned and Megatron had already transformed.

Starscream didn’t hesitate to turn and aim, firing upon the oncoming Autobots before he engaged his thrusters and shot up into the air. “Starscream, what are you doing?” Megatron shouted.

“Oh, apologies Lord Megatron. Did you _not_ want to have your usual bout with Optimus Prime? He’s arrived,” Starscream retorted.

“Your insubordination is well-noted Starscream,” Megatron growled, even as Starscream sped up.

He calculated and then twisted. “Prepare for a drop,” he warned and then dropped Megatron’s transformed form.

He kept an eye out and then transformed, taking off himself as to rejoin his Trine as Megatron landed in front of Optimus Prime.

“Sparklings,” he muttered.

 _“He heard that,”_ Soundwave intoned in his processor.

 _“Get out of my head, Soundwave,”_ Starscream shot back as he took off with his Trine to lay down suppressing fire.

* * *

Starscream grunted as he was sent across the floor by Megatron, letting it happen.

He quickly got back on his feet, however and began to fight back. He could see, and feel, the other Decepticons watching, tense and waiting to see who would come out on top.

Starscream knew it was going to be Megatron. He grunted as he tried to do an aerial attack, but Megatron was too experienced to fall for it.

And for all his pride, well…it was well-earned.

He was grabbed and tossed, feeling his right wing take the brunt of it, and _slag it_ right on that top joint. He heard Skywarp make a sound, and there were twin screams of _“Starscream!”_ through their Trine bond.

Starscream got to his feet and then grunted he was kicked back down. Megatron’s foot dug into his chest and he grunted. Megatron gave another shove, enough that there was a small crack, before Megatron lifted his foot. “Your insubordination is atoned for,” he stated as he walked away from Starscream, back to him.

Starscream gritted his teeth, even as he launched onto his feet, thrusters engaging as he fell into another fight. He leapt above Shockwave and nearly scoffed as he took off, ignoring the ache in his right wing. He increased his thrusters and then began to drop. Shockwave had turned to fire upon him, but considering Shockwave prowess wasn’t exactly in marksmanship, Starscream didn’t bother trying to dodge.

Instead, he  _slammed_ his foot right into Shockwave’s optic. The other Decepticon screamed and fell back, his head crashing into the ground and Starscream quickly got off his head, doing a small flip as he moved to head into another fight, only for no one to start one.

“What, no one else?” he taunted, ignoring the distress from his Trine mates.

As they only backed up further, Starscream scoffed and turned, heading for the door. No one tried to go for his back and his Trine quickly framed him.

 _“Starscream, let’s go,”_ Skywarp pressed and Starscream followed their silent directions to where they could fix him up.

He couldn’t go to the Decepticon Medic, after all.

 _That_ would be far too much of a show of weakness.

* * *

Starscream grunted as his back hit a wall and he glanced up to find that he was backed into the _one_ space that he couldn’t fly out of. “Autobot scum!” he shrieked as he brought his hand up to his wing.

Those Pit-Forsaken _twins_ with their  _Pit-Forsaken jetpacks_ and he was going to  _r_ _ip them apart_ the next time he saw them!

They had damaged his guns!

He glared at the Autobots in front of him, wondering if the intent was to _capture_ him.

Soft-sparked morons.

He _pulled_ and he felt the sword come out of the subspace pocket he had put in _both_ wings at the same spot. He then moved, stabbing through the chest of the first, right through their spark before he pulled out. He began to move, just moving enough to get to open space so he could fly out.

It would be a _short_ flight, the Pit-Forsaken twins got his left leg thruster, but he could deal with that.

He twisted and continued to cut through the Autobots, gritting his teeth as he jumped up, activating his right thruster to get a quick lift so he could land on the roof. It nearly gave out under his feet and he gritted his teeth as he jumped to the side, keeping his balance as he returned the sword to the subspace pocket as he dropped back down.

Starscream gritted his teeth as he began to move. He twisted when he heard a familiar whine and Skywarp appeared. He was then grabbed and Skywarp teleported away again, that familiar whine becoming static as he was pulled away.

 _“I was doing just fine,”_ Starscream growled as they _finally_ stopped teleporting to where Thundercracker was waiting.

 _“Yes, thus the tactical advance to the rear,”_ Skywarp remarked sarcastically.

 _“We need to kill them. The Pit-Forsaken Twins got my guns and left leg thruster,”_ Starscream stated.

Thundercracker shuddered slightly at that. _“You had to use your ace,”_ he responded.

 _“Let’s fix this._ Then _we go kill the Autobot scum,”_ Skywarp said and bent down to do just that.

They were barely able to catch the Autobots before they reported what they had seen to any of their leaders.

The Command Trine also got the information they had been sent for, but Starscream doubted it would be valuable.

* * *

Starscream spun out of his Seeker form as he dropped down toward Blitzwing, though he angled his trajectory to fall past him. Blitzwing was large, strong, and _cunning_.

He was also nearly insane and happily ripped through people, emphasis on the _happily_.

He twisted around once on the ground and brought up his gun, firing just as Blitzwing began to transform into his tank form. The triple-changer let out a shout and the ‘Con fell back as Starscream let out a sharp exhale, even as he blasted up to avoid Astrotrain.

He spun around and did another thruster jump to avoid Astrotrain when the other 'Con transformed into his _transport flying form_.

Starscream gritted his teeth as he spun around in the air and dropped down on top of Astrotrain. He felt the other ‘Con start to transform and he flipped off, and he fired off another shot, sending the triple-changer down.

Octane was, thankfully, a coward and he wasn’t going to do anything.

He would steal, lie, and _hide_ , but he wouldn’t fight Starscream. “Are you done?” he asked in a sharp tone to the groaning Triple-Changers.

They nodded and Starscream sighed as he turned to walk away from them. He was _never_ going to forgive Shockwave for foisting them on him because ‘one of their forms were a type of Seeker’.

Slagging, Pit-Forsaken, spark-less _husk_ that he was,  _none_ of the Triple-Changers had actual  _Seeker_ forms.

* * *

Starscream frowned sharply over the rations and continued to pace them out for what was _necessary_ when Laserbeak and their twin, Buzzsaw, came nosing around his paperwork. “Pests,” he said and waved at them with his hand.

They let out a sharp sound and screeched at him in a mimicry of his own screamings. “I’m amused,” he said flatly and went back to the rationing.

Oh, the Triple-Changers were going to be a _pain_.

Starscream was going to have to keep them on a short leash.

Well, a  _shorter_ leash. Possibly just let them go wreak havoc on the Autobots. And Octane was a coward, but he was needed to find his stores of Energon.

Starscream would wrestle away every _drop_ from the thieving coward through excessive force if necessary.

“Pests,” he repeated as he pushed at Laserbeak and Buzzsaw.

They both protested the treatment and he gave a huff at them. He then focused back on working on the rationing, ignoring how they went off, the pests.

The same small energon pieces, however, ended up on the shelf from Starscream’s own ration anyway.

* * *

Starscream engaged his thrusters as he tried to blast out of the Pit-Forsaken Twins grips on him. “Fragging, Pit-Forsaken, _Unicron’s Spawn_!” Starscream screeched as he continued to fight, ignoring how it wore down on his joints and burned through his energy.

He had energon leaking from his many wounds and he continued to fight as he was dragged down into the cells. “I will rip your servos apart! I will rip out your optics!” Starscream continued to threaten, even as his terror began to climb higher.

No, no, _no_!

These slagging, fragging, _pieces of slag_!

He continued to screech and fight, even as they tossed him into a cell and locked the door tight. He forced himself to his feet and slammed himself against the charged bars. Sunstreaker snorted with amusement.

Starscream let out a snarl as he stared them down, his wings trembling as he felt like the walls were closing in on him.

He couldn’t even see outside of his cell very far. “Yeah, and wreck our audios with your screeching,” Sideswipe continued and walked away with his twin.

Starscream. Would. Destroy. Them.

He shrieked out more threats and curses. He went until he was sure he had done some damage to his voice box and he snarled as he slowly sat down, trying to see outside of his cell.

He was having trouble breathing and he leaned back heavily against the wall.

He ignored the tingling pain that came from the bars as he _finally_ managed to get a glimpse of the ceiling far off.

* * *

It had taken a few hours, time was unimportant, or he couldn’t keep track of it, but he had managed to start on working on the cell door. He had.

Right as an explosion rocked through the area.

Starscream was knocked back, and he felt the pressure increase on his wings. He felt his processor staticked out and he stared up at the ceiling. There was a grating crushing sound and his ankle was grabbed.

The screeching of metal against metal as he was dragged and he kicked out as he sat up once free of the cell, only to have his foot caught and he was staring at Megatron. “Starscream, this is inexcusable. Next time, I fully expect you to get yourself out,” Megatron growled.

“Of course, Lord Megatron,” Starscream answered.

“Now get on your feet. We have an Autobot base to lay waste to and your _slagging Trine_ is ripping it apart by hand,” Megatron snarled and Starscream gave a sharp nod as he got up, Megatron having released him.

The base left a sizable crater when it blew up, and Skywarp and Thundercracker refused to let him out of their sight for three _fragging weeks_.

Skywarp even willingly did paperwork.

It was the end of Cyberton.

* * *

“You’re leaving _Shockwave_ in charge?” Starscream asked flatly, voice scratchy from the time he was imprisoned by the fragging Twins.

The only reason he was asking at _all_ was because he was alone with Megatron. Well, alone with Megatron and Soundwave, but Soundwave was hardly going to take it out of this room. “Watch your tongue Starscream. I will only withstand your insubordination for so long,” Megatron said in a warning tone.

Starscream leaned against the wall opposite of Soundwave and decided not to comment on that. He would have been killed long ago if Megatron _truly_ wanted the ‘insubordination’ to end. As Starscream only tried to usurp Megatron when appearances dictated he should, he doubted Megatron actually _would_ kill him.

He had enough paperwork without becoming the Leader of the Decepticons, but it kept Megatron wary of all around him.

 _“You should pay attention to Lord Megatron’s speech,”_ Soundwave intoned.

 _“_ You _should stay out of my head,”_ Starscream shot back.

“Lord Megatron, why make me your Second if you were going to just leave Shockwave behind should you ever need to leave Cybertron?” Starscream questioned.

Megatron let out a sharp laugh, of a sort. “He could hardly be comparable. He is too logical and you have bested him at every attempt,” he dismissed.

Starscream resisted the urge to heave a sigh. “Yes, Lord Megatron. But then what is the use of me accompanying you?” he responded.

Megatron glared at him. “You expect me to launch an attack against the Autobots fleeing Cybertron _without_ my Air Commander?” he demanded.

“Of course not, Lord Megatron,” Starscream intoned flatly.

“I should crush your voice box,” Megatron growled out in a low threat. “It would certainly save our audio receptors from rupturing from your voice.”

“Then how would I carry out your commands, Megatron?” Starscream questioned and didn’t even twitch when Megatron fired at him, barely missing his head.

It certainly made his hearing a little off and part of his vision had switched off to protect him from the blaster flare.

“When do we board the _Nemesis_ , Lord Megatron?” Soundwave inquired.

“Once we have drawn up the necessary combatants,” Megatron answered.

“Is there anyone of the Aerial Corps you find necessary, Lord Megatron?” Starscream questioned.

“Blitzwing. I will need him. The rest are up to your discretion,” Megatron answered.

“Of course, Lord Megatron,” Starscream responded.

He then gave a bow and left at Megatron’s wave of his hand.

_“You should…”_

_“Out. Of. My. Head.”_

* * *

They had been in a sleep for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

They had been buried on the _rock_ that took Skyfire from him.

The war had gone on back on Cybertron.

“Are you telling me that no one, _no one_ , has done _one slagging piece of paperwork_?” Starscream shrieked.

The combined forces of the Decepticons from Cybertron trembled under Starscream’s wrath. “Not _one_?” he screeched as Skywarp and Thundercracker tried to calm him through their Trine bond.

There was a small shake through the assembled Decepticons. “To the _Pit_ with you _all_!” Starscream shrieked.

“I will not do that _backlog_! Do you own _fragging_ paperwork! And!” Starscream continued and he drew himself up to his full height.

“You _slaggers_ get to explain to _Megatron_ regarding the backlog of paperwork,” he growled out and then turned around to storm into the depths of the Nemesis, flanked by his Trine mates.

 _“Fragging slaggers,”_ Skywarp said soothingly down the bond.

 _“Slaggers the lot of them,”_ Thundercracker chimed in.

 _“Sparklings,”_ Starscream growled back down the bond.

**Author's Note:**

> ...This took maybe, two hours or so to write?
> 
> I like taking Starscream and making him _competent_.
> 
> Also, yes, this will be a series of Competent Starscream. I just need to have ideas for it.


End file.
